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Willow Run Airport names new director

A recently retired career U.S. Marine Corps pilot and aviation officer has been appointed director of Willow Run Airport.

Christopher Mullin, 51, will assume control of day-to-day operations at the commercial and cargo airport in Van Buren Township after being hired by Wayne County Airport Authority CEO Thomas Naughton, according to a statement issued this afternoon.

Mullin, a Massachusetts native and graduate from Providence College in Rhode Island, replaces Sean Brosnan, who was promoted to vice president of maintenance and airfield operations for both airports.

Mullin retired from the Marines in October. He was a military jet pilot, and served in a variety of aviation support and planning roles during a 29-year career, according to information provided by the airport authority.

“Col. Mullin has wide-ranging experience in strategic planning and an impressive background in aviation,” Naughton said in a statement.

For the past three years, Mullin was an instructor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

Mullin’s service decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and two Meritorious Service medals, Combat Action Ribbon, nine Air Medals, five Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medals and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

He has more than 2,500 flight hours in several aircraft, including the F/A-18D Hornet, O/A-4M Skyhawk and OV-10 A/D Bronco.

Willow Run Airport handled nearly 80,000 aircraft landings and takeoffs and more than 83,000 tons of cargo last year. It handles air freight, charters and general aviation, but not commercial passenger traffic, as per a 1967 agreement between the authority and the airlines.

The airport employs 11 people and has an operating budget of $3.1 million.

The airfield was originally part of the Willow Run factory owned by Ford Motor Co. that produced B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II, and later cars for several companies, including General Motors.

It was sold by the University of Michigan to Wayne County for $1 in 1977.

The airport authority is the seven-member board that oversees Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Willow Run.